SUPERSTITIONS (1 December 2006) (many thanks to Jeanne Bryan for this idea)

Ireland is still quite a superstitious place and the 'Celtic tiger' has barely dented this image! Here are some superstitions from Ireland - I'm sure many of these are not exclusive:

• "Third time lucky..."= common superstitous saying, probably biblical or even before... NEW
• Don't open an umbrella indoors - brings bad luck (how do you dry it then?)
• You spill the salt - throw it over your left shoulder (otherwise you'll have bad luck)
• You find a coin - give it to someone else and you'll have good luck
• You see a ladder ahead - don't walk under it or you'll have bad luck
• You break a mirror - seven years bad luck
• You see one magpie(s) - the poem goes "One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl and four for a boy"! Magpies tend to be seen in pairs - they tend to keep their partners for life
• You walk around the "Black" church three times - you'll meet the devil himself! The "black church" is a protestant church in Dublin's northside.

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Guest sayings

Paul Gough, Dublin): Shur yiv a grate vice fer sellin papers = "Excuse me I hope that you don't me saying so but your singing is terrible" [Comes from the days when Dublin had many newspaper vendors who would shout out the names of the newspapers that they sold]

Gobshite or a worse eejit = self explanatory

Banjaxed =broken

Were ya born in a field? =Close the door

Culchie =Country man / Non-Dubliner

Mortified/morto =embarrased